Oregon Ducks prepare for tougher road ahead

View full sizeThomas Boyd/The OregonianOregon Ducks wide receiver Lavasier Tuinei (80) celebrates with tight end David Paulson (42), after his touchdown against the Washington State University Cougars at Autzen Stadium, in Eugene, Ore., Sat., Oct. 29, 2011.

EUGENE – Oregon safety Eddie Pleasant said Monday after practice that the No. 6 Ducks, while never taking a seemingly lesser opponent for granted, do recognize that the schedule is about to crank up a notch in the coming month.

It's easily the toughest stretch of the season and one that should make for both an exciting and daunting stretch run.

"Playing in this conference ... you can't take anybody for granted," Pleasant said. "We do have to take one game at a time. But we know Washington is a great team, Stanford's a great team and 'SC is a good team. ... But it ain't like we've never played these teams before."

No, but Oregon (7-1, 5-0 Pac-12) has defeated maybe one team of similar caliber to that trio this season.

Oregon's signature win to date came at home against No. 20 Arizona State (6-2, 4-1). Oregon's other six wins have come against teams (Nevada, Missouri State, Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington State) with a combined record of 16-34. The Ducks' next three opponents are 20-4.

Improved competition typically means less margin for error, Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said. Stronger opponents could capitalize on mistakes that might not have been costly against a lesser team. But Aliotti said he hasn't approached the final month viewing these teams as being better, as much as he's focused on his team playing better.

"I don't try to talk about 'hey, we've got to play any different because these guys are this and these guys are that,'" Aliotti said. "I know it sounds cliché, but we have a standard by which we need to play and obviously we're playing a very good Washington team."

Also, according to Asper, Oregon's offense at this point should be far enough along to open up the entire playbook. He expects the same from opposing defenses.

"Who ever we go against should be advanced enough on their defense that we should expect anything to come at us," he said. "It just happens to be that we have a very exciting schedule against some teams who are doing really well toward the end of their seasons, too. So, it will be exciting."